I
must admit, I‚m chronically opinionated. And one of the
marvelous little perks of my job is, I get to force people
to listen to my opinions. So forgive a moment of selfishness
while I ask a question: WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD IS WRONG
WITH PICKING A MAJOR BASED ON LIKING IT? ::resumes calm::

For all of you high school juniors and seniors, this
whole major issue is probably coming up more and more,
as applications, parents, aunts and teachers breath
down your neck to know what you‚re going to do with
your life (because you‚ve obviously decided). And, of
course, they have a list of majors, which are „acceptable.š
You will find your great-aunt Marge loudly insist, as
she did to Erin, of Connecticut, that „only people who
study math are worthwhile,š whereas your chemistry teacher
will tell you, as she did Ginger, of Iowa, that „the
only real way to make money any more is to study computers.š
Meanwhile, your inner artist wants nothing more than
to study graphic arts. So what gives?

The accepted explanation of parents being controlling
is that they want the best for you out of love. So when
you go home, and say, like Jonathan, „I‚m going to be
an English major and then be a writer,š the natural
parent reaction is indeed to freak out. „You‚d think,š
Jonathan, of Mauldin, South Carolina, later confided,
„that I‚d said I‚m going to throw away every opportunity
I‚ll ever have to be happy and successful and join Pinocchio
and Brer Rabbit in helping Santa Claus. Geez!š You,
the teenager, the one right on the verge of everything
new and wonderful, are by nature impetuous and idealistic.
Your parents, who had two years of wiping your bottom
and 18 of paying your bills, are not quite so certain
that you will find ways to survive as a musician, or
that you‚ll get grants for your psychological research.
So they have an excuse for telling you what to put on
your applications as your major. But what about the
rest of the world?

Erin staunchly insists that her chemistry teacher,
her favorite teacher, was the person who inspired her
to study chemistry in the first place. „You could tell
with (my teacher) that she really loved chemistry, that
she was passionate about it. In her class, I caught
some of that flame; I wanted to be part of it too. And
there she goes and tells me not to do it! Just for money,
and things like that.š Erin‚s is certainly not alone
in wondering why EVERYONE feels compelled to comment.
Sara, a junior in Long Island, New York, has heard „probably
every snide comment about artists there ever was,š whereas
I myself have heard people from my mom to the cashier
in the textbook store comment on majoring in English.
The question most everyone voices is „Why do these people
CARE what I major in?š After much consultation, the
following ideas have been proposed:

They care, as in parents and favorite teachers.

They feel compelled to give advice, being older
and wiser.

They know MUCH more than you and want to prove
it.

They really think they‚re helping you.

So most people are trying to be nice and share their experience
when they dis the world of psychology. Does that mean
you should go to vet school instead? Not hardly. Stand
up for your major! Or, change it sophomore year, that
works too.